Category: Politics

Content advisory 12+ We were driving in our Japanese car down the road, xenon headlights breaking the darkness. Suspension, invented by a Scotland-origin man was preventing us from jumping on the bumps. We were driving through the forest to the border through the protected zone.

Back then, in the age of tribes, being banned from your settlement was sometimes worse than a death sentence. Wild beasts, hungry hunters, … Read the rest

Content advisory 12+ There are many talks and speeches regarding the benefits of diversity, yet really few of them truly explain why it actually matters. In short, it widens your thinking horizon, gives you the luxury of less biased choice and helps you to understand the world better; by this, you can develop yourself, because it trains your brain, it stimulates the variety of connections between neurons, which will … Read the rest

Content advisory 18+ Have you ever been falsely accused of doing something bad that you positively and absolutely didn't do? How did you feel? Especially when there was no way to change the minds of those who were accusing you?

It's happened to me a few times, and I can assure you that I was outraged. In fact, I have little doubt that my violent reaction to such injustice was … Read the rest

Content advisory 16+ Time after time, I find myself watching various talent shows – America’s Got Talent, Britain’s Got Talent, the X – factors, the Idols, the Voice and others. While seemingly quite an unfulfilling way to pass the time, I tune in every time, and, truth be told, stand in awe of their talent. How little Darci Lynn could be such an amazing ventriloquist at just 12 years of … Read the rest

Content advisory 18+ When I was a kid back in America and would watch the sit-coms on TV (which now leads me to reflect "Did I HAVE a life?"), I was always struck by the laughter that would erupt in the background every time someone said something that was supposed to be funny. Didn't matter if it actually WAS funny -- the knee-slapping merry-makers in the television studio ("coming to … Read the rest

Content advisory 18+ So, will the REAL Russia stand up and be counted? That is the question to be answered in tonight's Russia-Egypt football match which will likely determine whether or not Putin's boys advance to the next round. I will be watching and pulling for them, anxious to find out if the 5-0 shellacking of Saudi was a fluke.

Content advisory 18+ In the last couple of days, Russian "patriotism" has had its finest hour. First, a famous painting was well-nigh destroyed by a vodka-swilling nationalistic fool at the Tretyakov gallery; and, second, a Russian journalist, well-known for his criticism of the Kremlin, was fatally shot in the back as he tried to enter his apartment in Kiev, where he had fled in fear of his life in Moscow.… Read the rest

Content advisory 18+ RAPE. Such a strong implicating degrading action with grave consequences, but a word used almost casually and thoughtlessly. So many renowned public figures throw out comments which not only makes light of the gravity of the action but also sends out a wrong message to the people who look up to them.

Rape is such a common occurrence nowadays and people don’t even blink an eye … Read the rest

Enough is enough. Let`s stop speaking about 4% a year inflation when the real price growth is 1.6% a month. Let`s stop speaking about safety when the murder rate is 11.31 per 100 000, that is between Surinam, Botswana and Papua New Guinea (where the rate is lower) and Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica (where the rate is higher). Just stop it.

Content advisory 18+ Thinking to write about the up-and-coming "Victory Day" in Russia on 9 May (the whole world celebrates it today, 8th May - Artem), I decided to consult Artem regarding the wisdom of saying ANYTHING negative. And since I am not one to mince words whatever the subject, this was quite a concession for me to make.

The reason for my indecisiveness stems from the enormous … Read the rest

Content advisory 18+ Restricting something just for the apparent sake restricting it is usually a bad idea, though not an uncommon practice among bureaucrats and fools (if by that we are not talking about the same thing-Eric). But putting shackles on the importing of vital medicine is a treason by definition -- insofar as it represents a willful act of sabotaging the best interests of the nation, in … Read the rest

Content advisory 18+ I decided to start writing my posts in English as well as in Russian. Why so? Well, I’m here for the future, and English is an international language. I honestly think that limiting yourself just to one language is a demonstration of laziness…or stagnation, or stubbornness.

Many nations consider themselves as indisputably ‘great’, forgetting the darker sides of their history, ignoring the fact, amid the shifting … Read the rest

Content advisory 18+ When I think about the two great wars of the 20th century, my memory is of course fed by all the ghastly footage that is on hand to help us relive the horrors. As most of this documentary stuff is cast in film noir style black and white, the effect is even more sinister than it would be otherwise. Soldiers frozen in paralytic agony as bullets rip … Read the rest

Content advisory 18+ The great old Englishman Samuel Johnson of the 18th century (back when Englishmen were worthy of the name) once declared that "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

It is hard for me to know if that statement is comprehensible to all of my readers, so, without meaning to be patronizing, let me break it down. It means, basically, that when an individual has forfeited, through … Read the rest

Age restriction 18+ Way back in the day, when I lived in the redneck burgh of Jacksonville, Florida, there was an agency which hired day-laborers to supply the city's many construction companies. These building sites were always short of reliable help, and basically, they just needed a few extra bodies to shovel the shit.

Such "immediate employment" offices were scattered here and there throughout Yahooville (I don’t mean the internet, … Read the rest

Контент 18 + I guess I am one of those guys who doesn’t know how to take anything seriously. You know, one of those clowns who grins like a fool while everyone else is glowering with stony seriousness. Who actually spends time thinking of ridiculous things to say to his partner in a restaurant to explain that he needs to go to the toilet. Who believes that a great loud … Read the rest

Контент 18+ No doubt social media have discussed and dissected all aspects of the latest government act of censorship, in this case, the satirical film "The Death of Stalin." So there is no sense in my following redundancy with more redundancy. I will limit myself therefore to what I hope will be a few more or less original thoughts.

Контент 18+ If any of you have been following the news streaming out of the USA in recent months (and how can you avoid it?), you will no doubt be well-versed in the tsunami of sexual harassment allegations which have brought about the professional ruin of many high-placed men in the entertainment industry and the political arena especially.

Now the wags in the media have dubbed the process " MeToo!" … Read the rest

Контент 16+ Obtaining a visa, any kind of visa, is always potentially -- if not true every time-- one of the most royal ass-ripping processes in the entire cosmos. Although, in case there actually IS life on other planets, I hope that they have evolved to the point where they haven't had reason to think up the idea of visas or else have found a way to get past this … Read the rest